ABOUT US

Gonzalo Amigo was raised on the vast cattle farm of his family in Patagonia before studying in Buenos Aires and earning a scholarship to a prestigious engineering school in Paris, where he graduated and began a successful career as an IT consultant. There he also fell in love with his German-born future wife, Kathrin, and with French wine.

Having self-educated himself as much as possible on wine, he seized the opportunity to work for Éric Dubois, the highly acclaimed biodynamic winemaker of Clos Cristal in the Loire Valley. That first hands-on experience led him and Kathrin to the decision to acquire their own vineyard in the South of France, however improbable a choice for an Argentine computer scientist and a German medievalist. The couple relocated to Montpellier, where their daughter was born. Gonzalo studied viticulture and oenology, alternating with an apprenticeship at the large Pic Saint-Loup estate Domaine de la Salade Saint-Henri.

After years of working at organic Terrasses du Larzac wineries, notably La Jasse Castel, Gonzalo knew he was ready for his own venture. In late 2017 he and Kathrin bought excellent 40-60 year old vines with a beautiful but dilapidated cellar, an old mas typical of the region, in the picturesque vintner village Montpeyroux, and created Domaine Terre de Feu.       

The seven hectares of the vineyard are spread over nine separate plots in the appellations Terrasses du Larzac and Languedoc Montpeyroux, offering a rich diversity in grape variety, exposure and soil ranging from sand and gravel to clay and limestone.

Gonzalo immediately began the conversion to organic viticulture. The winery was accredited the fully certified Agriculture Biologique label in 2021. The vineyard is cared for by hand, whether trimming, disbudding or harvesting.

In the extensively renovated cellar, Gonzalo’s winemaking is traditional with a clear focus on polyphenol preservation at all stages. After hand harvesting with meticulous sorting, the clusters are fully destemmed and transferred to stainless steel tanks using a conveyor belt to preserve the grapes’ integrity. Pumping over every two days helps the skins’ infusion. Maceration lasts from 2 to 4 weeks depending on the cuvée. There is no mechanical extraction nor are sulfites added (when necessary, So2 is used after malolactic fermentation). Gonzalo works with a variety of ageing techniques and a cooperage of clay amphorae, concrete eggs and tanks, new Stockinger oak barrels and demi-muids. Most blends combine different ageing vessels to attain the right balance.

While Kathrin takes care of admin, sales and marketing, Gonzalo works the vines by himself with only a few weeks’ seasonal help a year, but also the generous support of friends such as France-based British artist and designer Merrick Angle who creates all visuals, from the highly acclaimed bottle labels to this website.